The proposed study will increase understanding of factors associated with initial acceptance of topical microbicides, and the potential for their consistent and long-term use. Past problems associated with uptake of new HIV, STI and pregnancy prevention methods point to the need to study acceptability alongside the process of product development. Building upon a NIAID-funded randomized clinical trial of microbicides, the proposed study will be conducted in Malawi, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, using primarily qualitative methods for data collection. Specific areas of inquiry include 1) product attributes, 2) relationship characteristics, 3) norms for the sexual encounter and 4) access to products and product information. Research will take a user perspectives approach, focusing on multiple levels, including: women, men, community leaders and stakeholders, and health professionals. It will also assess how product use and acceptability is influenced by clinical trial participants' comprehension of informed consent and their perspectives on participation in a clinical trial. The research design includes an iterative process to data collection - an initial set of interviews with clinical trial participants will inform development of data collection instruments to be administered in two rounds of focus groups, and a series of in-depth interviews. Interviews will be conducted with trial participants, as well as women not in the trial, male partners, health care professionals and key stakeholders from the participants' communities. Preliminary findings from each wave of data collection will be used to fine-tune instruments for the subsequent wave, thus grounding the data in participant perspectives and experiences, and facilitating richer exploration of the topics of inquiry. [unreadable] [unreadable]